MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Tuesday, 30 December 2025 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Monday, 29 December): BRATISLAVA - Prosecutor-General Maros Zilinka will turn to the Constitutional Court over the amendment to the Criminal Code, submitting a motion to initiate proceedings on the conformity of its legal regulations, TASR learnt from Zilinka's social media post on Monday. The amendment to the Criminal Code reintroduces the 'three strikes' rule for petty theft. It also expands the definition of the criminal offence of obstructing an election campaign, including acting in concert with a "foreign power", and introduces criminal liability for "denying or questioning post-war documents on the arrangement of conditions after the Second World War in Slovakia". The institution of cooperating accused persons has also been modified. Parliament debated the amendment via a fast-track legislative procedure. The legislation was signed by President Peter Pellegrini, and most of its provisions have already entered into force. Zilinka criticised the criminal amendment as early as during the legislative process. He described as particularly harmful the changes to the Criminal Procedure Code that it contains. According to Justice Minister Boris Susko (Smer-SD), the amendment to the Criminal Code, which also changes the Criminal Procedure Code in the sphere of cooperating defendants, isn't bringing about a revolution but common sense and legal logic. In his view, the principles of justice remain preserved. He also argued that the amendment isn't abolishing the institution of the cooperating accused and won't weaken the fight against corruption or cause investigations to collapse. Instead, it will strengthen the quality of evidence and the credibility of court decisions. Susko described opposition reactions to the approved changes as histrionic theatrics. According to the opposition parties, the legislation has been drafted to address problems on behalf of the "mafia" and is aimed at guaranteeing impunity from prosecution for people who commit serious crimes. BRATISLAVA - The parliamentary caucus of the coalition Voice-SD party is "absolutely stable" after the departure of Jan Ferencak, according to party leader and Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok. In a year-end interview for TASR, Sutaj Estok added that he has no plans to expel Ferencak from the party, but he criticised some of the lawmaker's actions over the past year. The Voice-SD chair recalled that Ferencak failed to support several government bills during parliamentary votes. Ferencak left the Voice-SD caucus after he was removed as head of the House committee for European affairs, while indicating that he still wishes to remain in the party. "We as Voice adopted an internal decision that if Jan Ferencak didn't represent the views of the party and wasn't able to guarantee that he'd support this governing coalition on important bills, we'd remove him [from the committee chairmanship — ed.note]. In the end, 107 MPs voted for his removal. That makes it a closed chapter for me," said Sutaj Estok. He also pointed out that Ferencak was part of a group around Samuel Migal and Radomir Salitros, who, while still MPs, criticised the state of affairs within the party and were expelled from Voice earlier this year. "These people were given a huge opportunity by party founding father Peter Pellegrini. They were placed high on the candidate list. It's becoming clear that this was a huge mistake. However, every young party goes through such mistakes. Today, the 25-member Voice parliamentary caucus is absolutely stable, and we'll continue within the governing coalition," he added. Sutaj Estok also commented on Ferencak's call to convene a party congress at which members should reassess Sutaj Estok's performance as leader. He noted that there are rules for convening a congress and that after the last parliamentary session he met members of the party presidium, who declared their support for him. Ferencak announced his departure from the Voice-SD parliamentary caucus in December, when Parliament, after a proposal was submitted by Voice MPs, removed him as head of the European affairs committee. He said he couldn't remain in an environment in which critical speech leads to persecution. Despite this, Ferencak declared that he was, for now, staying in the party. President and Voice party founder Peter Pellegrini later said that he doesn't understand Ferencak's ambition to remain in the party after leaving the caucus. "I think that the party should include people who speak with one voice, share one view and present unity, but that again depends on how the Voice party approaches it," he said. BRATISLAVA - Genuine problems bedevilling the justice system largely went unaddressed by the Justice Ministry this year, or once again they had to give way to the promotion of partial personal interests — a regrettable waste of expertise, former justice minister and opposition KDH vice-chair Viliam Karas has stated in a year-end interview for TASR. Karas added that expertise still exists even within the leadership of the Justice Ministry, but it constantly plays second fiddle to absurd political demands, He nevertheless views positively the fact that, after a long period of denying reality, at least an attempt has begun to address the rise in petty theft, the result of poor changes to the Criminal Code pushed through by the current government. "However, even this attempt was ultimately totally devalued by further demands from advisers installed at the ministry, who are pushing the interests of their own clique there," argued Karas. The MP noted, however, that there's a silver lining to everything negative. According to him, the governing coalition's latest legislative steps adopted via fast-tracked legislative procedures have at least provided a good opportunity for the Constitutional Court to finally find the courage to limit these practices. "If the Constitutional Court has so far been restrained, I think that this was the final straw and that a correction became necessary," said Karas. He doesn't see any major problem in the amendment to the Act on Judges and Lay Judges, under which the Judicial Council, as a collective body, will be able to file disciplinary motions against judges and will also select lay judges for the database of disciplinary panels. However, with regard to the Judicial Council, Karas would welcome greater protection against political interference in its composition so that nominees of the government, Parliament and president can't be so easily replaced purely for political reasons. According to him, the Judicial Council should be better shielded from electoral cycles. "I criticised this when such a change was adopted, the current government strongly criticised it when it was in opposition, and it's something the European Commission continues to reproach us for," added Karas. As for the judiciary, Karas said that it more or less functions as a whole, even in view of the conditions and constant attempts to take control of independent institutions, as well as a series of ill-considered semi-reforms from previous periods. "This is the result of the individual courage of many judges, for which I sincerely thank them. The same applies to other bodies, and especially the police. I also want to express great appreciation for all the brave police officers who stick to their professional honour, even when their leadership totally fails," said Karas. BRATISLAVA – Continuity is the most important factor when replacing the chief-of-general-staff of the Slovak armed forces, Defence Minister Robert Kalinak (Smer-SD) has declared in his end-of-year interview for TASR. Kalinak added that the army's human potential is very strong and that he'll select the new commander from those among the Slovak general staff who have already proven themselves. Kalinak was referring to the fact that the term of office of the current Chief-of-General-Staff of the Slovak Armed Forces, Daniel Zmeko, is set to end soon. "The name will, of course, probably be announced jointly with the chief-of-general-staff to the president, so that he can also consider it. I assume that as of February or March we'll gradually introduce the new chief to some new duties as well," said Kalinak, adding that the handover of command will take place in May, when Zmeko's mandate is set to expire. The current chief of general-staff has already served two four-year terms, and under the Armed Forces Act, he can't apply again. The chief-of-general-staff is nominated by the defence minister, the nomination is approved by the government, and the president ultimately appoints the official to the post. Zmeko has led the General Staff since 2018. BRATISLAVA - Health Minister Kamil Sasko (Voice-SD) has told TASR in an interview that he plans to present the results of an in-depth audit of how state hospitals are operating at the beginning of the new year. He stated that the audit is one of the outcomes of talks with trade unions and focuses on how efficient state hospitals are, especially in terms of financing, management and operations. "It's under way at five state hospitals. We'll wait for the results and then act in an uncompromising manner," said the minister. According to Sasko, the audit concerns state hospitals exclusively, as the ministry has direct management authority over them, and their additional financing is the responsibility of the state. The minister sees the greatest scope for improving efficiency mainly in the system of financing state hospitals and in how they function in terms of procurement, operations, capacities and staffing. In addition, Sasko announced stricter oversight of public procurement at hospitals. "I've ordered very thorough checks of all public procurements worth over €5,000 at all hospitals, including all projects from the Recovery Plan," he added. BRATISLAVA – Opposition Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party leader Branislav Groehling has said that he can feel strong support from party members who share his vision, and he pointed out that he presented that vision during his bid for the party leadership and was elected based on that. Speaking to TASR in a end-of-year interview, Groehling claimed that Jana Bitto Cigankova remains a member of the party, despite having voiced reservations about him several times. However, according to Groehling, Bitto Ciganikova must come to terms with his stance on former party leader Richard Sulik. "I presented a vision of a new story for the party when I ran for party chairman. The members identified with it, which is why I was elected. Since then we've been implementing individual steps, and I personally feel strong support from the membership. I'm pleased that SaS is becoming a party that brings together moderate conservatives and moderate liberals, and that it looks at both words in our name – freedom and solidarity," Groehling told TASR. He also pointed out that SaS has begun to improve in opinion polls, a fact that he welcomed. "It's also positive that, as party chairman, I'm among the top three most trustworthy leaders," he added. Groehling also responded to TASR's questions about cooperation with MP Bitto Cigankova, who has criticised him several times this year. He declared that she remains part of the party. However, he said she must come to terms with his decision that as long as he is SaS chairman, Sulik will not appear on a candidate list. "This decision is unchangeable. I realise that she disagrees with it, but she'll have to decide whether to accept it and if she wants to be part of the team or make some other decision," he added. mf